(c) crown copyright
Catalogue Reference:CAB/23/22
Image Reference:0009
IThia Document is^the^ Property pf His Britannxc
M a
J e.gi.xls. Government ,1
JLJLXLJLX -
FINAL COPY No;.
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting held in Mr Bonar Law's Room,
House of Commons, S.W.1, on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1920,
at 6 p.m.
Pj^SEN?:The Prime Minister
I The Right Hon. A. Bonar Law, M.P.,
Lord Privy S eal.
The
(in the Chair) .
Fight Hon. A.J. Balfour, C M . ,
M.P., Lord President of the
Council.
j The Right Hon. A. Chamberlain, M.P. ,
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The- Right Hon. E, Shortt , K.C.,M.P.,
Secretary of State for Home
! The Right Hon. the Ra?-1 Gurzon of
Affairs.
Ke d 1 e sto n, K V G , G . 0 . S .: IV,
G.G.I.E., Secretary of State
The light Hon. E.S. Montagu, M.P.,
for Foreign Affairs.
Secretary of State for India.
r
The Right Hon. W . S . Churchill, M.P.,
Secretary of State for War and
Air.
The Right Hon. W. Long, M.P., First.
Lord of the Admiralty.
The Rigid- Hon. R. Munro, K.C.,M.P.,
\ The Right Hon. Sir Hamar Greenwood,
Secretary for Scotland.
tart.,K.G.,M.P ., Chief Secret­
ary for Ireland.
The Fight H o n . T.J. Maanamara, LL.D.
M.P., Minister of Labour.
: The Fight Hon. 0, Addis on, J.T.P.,
Minister of Health.
Tho Right Ron. Sir Robert H o m e ,
G . B . E., K. G ., M .P ., Pre si dent o f
I The Right Hon. .K.A.L. Fisher,M.P.,
the Board of Trade.
President of the Board of
The Right Hon. Sir E. Geddes, G.C.!
Education.
0.B.E..M.P., Minister of Trans]
port.
The Right Hon. the Lord Lee of
Fareham, G.B.E.,K.C.B., M i n i s ­
t er of Agr iou It ur e & Fishe ries . The Right Hon. Si- L. TCorthington
Evans, B a r t.,M . P.
The foil Q W ing w ere also p res e n t: The Right Hon. C,A, McCurdy, K C ,
M.P., Focd Controller (For
Conclusion 6) .
Field-Marshal Sir II.II. Wilson, Part.
G.C.B. ,P .S . 0 . , Chief of the
Imperial General Staff (For
Conclusion 5 ) .
0
The Right Hon. the Earl Crawford &
Balcarres, Chairman of the
Wire at C ominis si on (For Co ncl usion 6 ) .
Sir. j.rr.Beha"-ell, ti,g.n,^ M i n i s ­
try of Trans nor t (For Conclu­
sions 1 and 2 ) .
...
Mr Thomas Jcnes
Sir liardman Lever, Ba rt . , K .0 .B. ,
Treasury Representative, Minis­
try of Transport (For Conclx:­
sions 1 and 2 ) .
1
.... Acting Sec retary .
As s ia t ant .,Sc o ret a ry
JNTERIM
fpVTSION
)? RAILWAY
RATES,TOLLS
\ND' CHARGES
(1) The Cabinet had under consideration a Memorandum
by the Minister of Transport
(Paper C P . - 1 7 4 1 )
covering
a further Report of the Rates Advisory Committee dealing
with the interim revision of charges for merchandise etc.
traffic by freight and passenger train.
The Cabinet were reminded that, so far as Great
Britain is concerned, the amount to be raised before duly 31,
199,1, is estimated at £66,000,000, that the estimated yield
from the Increase in passenger fares is £17,000,000, leaving
£49,000,000 to be raised from merchandise by freight and
passenger train, and that to provide this aura in eleven
months the increase must be such as to produce in a full year
£53,500,000.
It is not possible to 3oread the deficiency
over a longer period without prolonging the parried of the
Government guarantee, but it is a fundamental condition of
the scheme that the rates proposed will be subject to review
before the railways are handed back to the Companies, and
this will ensure that the Companies receive no special wind­
fall at the expense of the trader.
The Minister of Transport pointed out that the addi­
tlonal sum
only;
to be raised to wipe out the deficit was estimated
that no margin whatever was left f c
contingencies,
and on July 31 next a deficit might even exist.
tion from the.recommendations
Any reduc­
of the Committee might, and
probably would, cause a corresponding deficit.
The Cabinet agreed
-
To approve the adoption of the proposals
aet out in the Memorandum by the Minister
of Transport respecting the interim revision
of charges for merchandise etc. traffic by
freight and passenger train in the case of
British and Irish railways respectively,
with effect as from September 1, 1930.
(2) -^h,JR*&fer*noe $ ^ C a b i n e t 4 3 (20)
C o w l w s l o n 1,
^iTbe^Cairine-t---liad' under -consiteration a-M^sx^an&um by the
Minister of T-MnsTxjrt (Paper 0.P.-1751) and a Memorandtaa-by
the Minister of Health (Paper C P , - 1 7 5 6 ) relative to the
proposed Increase of workmen's fares.
It wag suggested in the .first.-named Memorandum that
the scale recommended by the Pates Advisory Committee, and
set out in paragraph 3, should ...be adopted subject to the
limitation that no fare should be increased by more than
300 per cent,, or 3/- a w e e k .
In the course of the subsequent disc us si en, the
Minister of Transport, stated that he was prepared to- reduce
the 3/- a week mentioned in his'Memorandum to 3s,6d. a
week.
In was represented, however, -that an increase of
3s.6d. would involve hardship in the case of many low-paid,
workers, particularly women workers, and that the..proposals
would be much less likely to excite serious criticism if the
increase was limited-to 3/-.
Ultimately the. Cabinet agreed
-
To approve the.recomroondations of the
Bates Advisory' Committee respecting
workmen'Is fa-res, subject to the livnit­
ation that no fare should be increased
by rao-e than 300 per cent., or 3/- a
week.
(3) The Cabinet were informed-that-a...statement had
appeared in the everting"-newspapers to the effect that the
t l ^ t ^ h ^ o ^ ^ m r ^ n t . . h a d ^ d e c i d e d to recognise the Government
of General wrangel as a de facto Government, to send a
Diplomatic Agent to Sevastopol with the title of High
Commissioner, and. to render General ?/r-angel all material
assistane e,
It was pointed out that no communication of any
kind had been received on the subject from the
French
Gover*ntnent, and that no mention of the recognition of
lene-raj; "Wr-angel. had been made by the French at the Lympne
ConferenceO
The .Pr^rchr*Bmb-aesy"- in.-London had received no
notification of the decision of the French Government.
It was agreed
That, in reply to Sir Donald Maclean,
who was about to raise the question­
in the House of Commons, the Prime
Minister should state that he had
read the announcement in the papers
with great surprise, that no informa­
tion "(official or- otherwise) had been
communicated'to him or to the Foreign
Office, and that he could not believe
that the statement was an accurate o n e .
At a later stage of the meeting a telephone
message, received at the Foreign Office from the British
Embassy in Paris, was communicated to the Cabinet, to the
effect that the reports in the press were
substantially
aocurate .
(For copies of telegrams which have passed
between the British Embassy, Paris, and
the Foreign Office on this matter, see
Ajojaendj^JL-)
A RMS AT C-OilSTANTINOPLB.
(4) Reference was made to the rifles stored at Constantinople, which, in the event of a rupture with the Soviet
Government, it wag agreed at Lyrapne to hand over to the
French for transmission to General Grange1.
It was pointed
out that while, in view of the continued advance of the
Soviet troops, Great Britain was at liberty to supply arms
to the Poles so far as the Soviet Government was
concerned,and
that that Government could bring no charge of breach of faith
a?.ainRt u 3 , the assurances given to the House of Commons by
the Prime Minister rendered it most undesirable to allow the
arin3 to be moved.
The Cabinet agreed
—
(&) That instructions should be sent by
telegram to the General Commanding in
Constantinople, by the Secretary of
State for " ar, to the effect that no
action regarding the removal of the
rifles or handing them over to the
French must be taken without further
orders:
r
(b) That the French Government and Admiral
de Robeck should be informed officially
by the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs that these instructions had been
sent to the British Military Authorities
at Constantinople.
BRITISH TROOPS
(5) Trie Cabinet were informed that it was most importAT ALIENSTEIN.
ant to withdraw the British. Battalion from Allenstein before
the railways were closed.
The French and Italian Governments
had been pressed to concur in such withdrawal, and in order
to meet the views of those Governments it had been agreed
to defer the completion of the evacuation of the Battalion
until August 15th.
As the completion of the evacuation could not in any
case be accomplished until August 15th., the Cabinet agreed
That the Secretary of State for War
should issue telegraphic instructions
at once, ordering the withdrawal of
the Battalion.
—
-luBSIDT^
(
6
)
"
/ i t h
*********
*o Cabinet 43 (20), Conclusion 5,
the Cabinet had under c-ons-ider*ation a Memorandum by the
P-ood Controller- (paper C P . - 1 7 4 6 ) explaining the difficul­
ties in the way
of ca-rying out the policy of gradual
reduction of the Bread Subsidy and at the same time" keeping
that policy secret.
The Cabinet were informed that it would be impossible
to reduce the subsidy by instalments without the fact
ing known In a few weeks' time.
Moreover, the
becom­
administrative
difficulties of carrying out the Cabinet decision, and the
expense in connection with, the setting up of the accounting
isachjjr\ery required, were very considerable.
that a frank statement
ment s
1
intentions
It was desirable
should be published of the Govern­
to abolish the subsidy, and the question
was whether the whole subsidjr should be abolished in Septem­
ber, which would mean increasing the cost of the loaf to
ISoSdo
or probably l s S d * , or whether abolition should be
c
accomplished in two steps (3d. in September, 1 9 2 0 ,
and Sd.
in March, 1 9 2 1 ) , which latter alternative would mean that
-the Bread Subsidy for the present financial year would cost ...
approximately £38-,OOO, 0 0 0 .
'
?
.
On the one hand, it was felt that to abolish- t-he',,% . .'
;
subsidy in one step would result in very serious- disniont^nt^
and unrest.
The industrial outlook was not promising,', arid­
everythirv.^ possib 1 e.should" be- done--1o minimise the caus&s..'­
'. ^ '
of trouble before the winter.
-- ­
On the other hand, it- was^ ,
pointed out that, as the subsidy must in any case end. by) f^.
March 3lat next, it was better to get the trouble overt -at'
once rather than allow it to simmer throughout the winter..;:.^
Moreover, the proposal to defer the total abolition of the
subsidy until next Spring Involved very heavy charges on the
Exchequer.
It was generally agreed that any attempt to reopen
the -question or to continue tne subsidy after March-31st-next
-5­
shjcatLd' be . iirroly --r*c-si
and on this understanding the
Cabinet, agreed — '
H
(a) To iaodify the prsvious deeision and to
require the abolition of the Bread
Subsidy by two st eps, of 3d. in Septem­
ber, 1920 , and the residue by March 3 1 ,
1921:
:
(b) That this decision should be eorrauni­
oate d forthwith to the House of Commons
by the Chancellor of the Exoheqixe , who
should ;iiahe it clear that the liability
would definitely come to an end at the
close of the present financial year.
n
POLISH AMD
RUSSIAN
ARMISTICE
DELEGATIONS'.
(?)
THE attention of the Cabinet was directed to commu
nications from Warsaw and Moscow respectively, indicating
that, the Polish and Soviet Armistice Delegates had failed
to m e e t , frora which it appeared possible that this failure
had been intentionally effected by the Russian authorities
The Cabinet agreed
—
That the Prime Minister should cause a
communication TO be sent to M. Kameneff
giving the SUBSTANCE of the Polish
telegram, AND. urging that immediate
facilities FOR the meeting of the
delegates should be given.
(A, COPY . of. JIPJ^PLI^NNICATI OH
sEret^i^" lU.Z' \"h?neff is.
ATTACHED": ""p^e A^NE ND I X . , I X . )
:
10 G
N.
(8) With reference to Conclusion 4 of a Conference of
Ministers held on July 3 6 , 1920, the Cabinet were informed
that, al+housh between 900 and 1-,-OCO men had been dismissed
b y the Irish Railways for refusing to carry troops and
munitions, dismissals were now being conducted in a h a l f ­
hearted manner, and there w a s no doubt that the
officials
and the men were being subjected to intimidation.
The
Irish Railways, other than the Ulster Railways, were refusIng to obey orders, and the Railway Managers Committee had
recommended that the Government should now close down, line
by line, tbt- railways which refused to carry troops or
Government
stores.
It was explained, however, that if this
course were adopted, the Government would still be under a
liability to make up the net receipts under the guarantee,
and. it was thought preferable to issue an order to the
railways to give Government traffic absolute priority.
In the event of the railways failing to carry out this
order
9
the Government could then withhold money payable
under the guarantee, and could also suspend for the time
being the coming into operation of the- inc-reaeed'""pas-aenger
and goods rates.
In this way pressure could, be put on the
line s * which would either have to close down or comply with
the Government instructions.
It was generally agreed that, provided there was no
serious legal objection, steps should be taken to carry-out,..
this latter policy in the case of all Irish lines which
refused to carry out thsir statutory duties as common
carriers.
The Cabinet agreed
­
(a) That, provided the Irish Law Officers saw
no objection, steps should now be taken to
order the Irish Railways to give absolute
priority to Government traffic, and that
failure to give such priority should entail
the loss of"money payable under the guarantee:
(b)That the Minister of Transport should be at
"liberty to withhold from any Irish Railway
the benefits of the revised rates of railway
charges *
PROPOSED
OPENING
OF INDIAN
LEGISLATURES
BY THE
PP.LNSE OF
VIABES.
(S)
With reference to Sabinot 12 (19) Conclusion 3,
tho Cabinet wore informed that, having regard
to hia
state of health, it vie uld not be possible for the Prince
of Wales to open the Indian Legislatures as had boon
proposed, and that in thoDO ciroumstancos it had been
suggested that tho Duke of Connaught should
undertake
tho Mission In question.
The Prime Minister,undertook, en behalf of the
Cabinet, to suggest that If tho proposal met
with His Majesty's approval, tho Puke of
Connaught should be approach3d with a view tc
ascertaining whether his Royal Eighnoss would
undo rtakc the Mission.
2 , Whi tohall Card ens , 3 .V;.,
August 11TH 1920.
APP3KDIX 1*
(Telegrams reooivod from Lord Derby
(Paris)
Mo,959 (L)
August 11th 19SG.
Communication was addressed to Minister for Foreign Affairs
this morning in ascor&ance with Instructions in your telegram
No.899 of August 10th.
Secretary General of Ministry for Foreign Affairs informsd
Mr Henderson this afternoon that President of the Council much
regretted that instructions sent to His M a j e s t y s Minister,
Warsaw, had been despatched without previous consultation with
French Government. President of the Council considered action
thus taken by His M a j e s t y s Government at Warsaw to bo absolutely
contrary to policy agreed upon at Lympna. Conditions offered by '
Soviets were suoh as leave Poland entirely at mercy of "Bolsheviks,
and though having superficial appearance of leaving her in&epena­
enpe as to in fact deprive her of ito
President of tho Council
"Was unable to instruct French Minister at Warsaw in sense desired.
Latter has been instructed requested to adopt attitude of strict
reserve and to await result of Minsk negotiations.
5
1
$0,960*
August 11th 1920s
My immediately proceeding telegram.
Secretary General gave Mr Henderson to understand that British
action would much incense French public opinion^
He added French
Government had decided as from today to recognise General Wrangsl s
Government as do facto Government of South Russia* Mr Henderson
stated he was convinced that this recognition would be most dia­
pieasing to His Majesty' s Government and expressed hope that it
might still be possible to delay action until after consultation
with His Ma^esty^gi Government
Secretary General thereupon re­
peated that recognition had been decided upon from today and that
thero was no other course open to French Government after aertion
taken at Warsaw by His- "Majesty s Government
oonsuXting
with French Government *
witl..ut
s
5
a
1
Ho* 961
August 11th 1920*
Announcement that French Government recognise General Wrangol^s
Government as de facto Government of South Russia and will send '
French diplomatic agent to Sebastopol with title of High Commiss­
ioner appears in "Temps" this evenings
Semi official Communique to this effect justifies this action on
ground of recent military successes and growing strength of General
Wrangel*s Government as well as of its assurances that it will
respect former engagements of Russian Empire.
Stress is laid on recent measures "of that Government such as
creation of elective institutions, legal ownership for peasants of
.land and in fact its general character of a legitimate Government
freely accepted by population as compared with autocrcrtic nature
o£ government of Soviets W h & a h excludes all prospect of truly
national representation^
Telegram to Mr Henderson
No ,,904,
(Paris)
August 11th 1980-.
Your telephone message this afternoon^
We will await official communication from French Government before
replying.
Bat you should make it clear to them at once, that action of
British Government yee&eap&ay evoniag was taken "because
we regarded It as direct e-e-quel to hympne decisions., It
was clear to us that if the terms offered "by soviet
Government were geuumne terms, we could not po-ssiblp
ask or obtain consent of Parliament to hostile measures,
contemplated at Lympne in event of rupture arising from
impossible conditions, and that :*xtiere was to b e a united
public opinion here, a break must not occur on the
proposals as submittecU
Further there was no time for delayThe polish Delegates
were to open negotiations to-day and we thought It essential
to let them know before they committed themselves that they
must not count upon British support if these terms were
refused,,
finally we at once informed. French Government of our action.
As regards action of French Government re v/rangel, when I
read report in papers this afternoon I declined to believe
It and enquired at once of French Embassy, who were equally
uninformed.
Amost simultaneously Prime Minister, who was
interrogated in House of Commons, expressed his conviction
that report must bo unfounded, since".no Intimation had been
made to us by Breach Government, and the step taken by­
latter appeared to be entirely inconsistent with Lymphs
decision that measures, of which support to .rangel was
one, should, not be undertaken until it was clear that
Polish negotiations had broken down.
inly after Prime Minister had spoken, did we learn from
you that report was correct,
Even yet we entertain the
hope that some mistake has been made and in view of what
happened at Lympno that the announcement has been made
without the authority of the French Government.
APPENDIX
II
11th August, 1920.
Mr Lloyd George presents his compliments to MC*KarnensfT
and hogs to acknowledge receipt of his letter of August 11th
covering a coinmunication from Mose-ow stating that the represen­
tat ives of the Russian C-OEjmnd had waited for the Polish
armistice delegates sinc-e the evening of August 9-th, hut that
the Polish delegation had not yet arrived.
Mr Lloyd George begs to inform M r . Kameneff that ho has
[jndaa&ge/ just received/from the Polish Government at T/arsaw dated
August 10th f9 p.m.) in which it is stated that the Polish
Government h a d , up till that time, received no answer from
the Soviet. Government agreeing to the proposal of the Polish
Government, contained in their radio addressed to the Soviet
Government on August 5th, and finally accepted by the latter
after three vain attempts of transmission, in jrhich radio the
Polish Government exprees^ed their readiness to send delegates'
to negotiate an armistice and preliminaries of peace at
Minsk.
The only Intimation which had reached V/arsav; to the
effect that the Polish delegates were expected to arrive in
Minsk on August 11th was a press telegram of the Haves agency
from Bythe received in Warsaw on August 10th,
Mr Lloyd George wishes further to state that the
representatives of the Br c'-vJ.r.xi covoirnment in TJarsmr have also
reported that the Polish OOveriiment have repeatedly endoav- .
oured to get Into touch with Moscow by wireless-, both direct
and via Norway, and that the message had always b e e n refused.
They further Inform h:bn what the Polar-h officer in command
on the section of the front beyond iodice had just announced
that, a Russian peace delegation had ivist arrived on that
pert and had stated, on not finding the Polish delegates,
that they would t w&t until 1 0 o'clock this morning (August 11th)*
The Polish Government are replying that a ? olish delegation
are proceeding to the front at once to meet them, and that,if
the Russiantdelegates are. still there, they will send their
They further state
peace delegation at once to meet them.
that they are notifying the Soviet Government that they are ore­
pared to send off their armistice and peace delegation to­
night (Auguat 1 1 t h ) .
1
Mr Lloyd George trusts that Mr. Kameneff' will see that
immediate Instructions are issued for the reception and
passage, through the lines to Minsk of the Polish peace and
armistice delegation, and that the Russian wireless stations
are instructed to receive and transmit Polish mess ages
He cannot help stating that this constant
without delay.
refusal to receive messages from Yfarsaw,while the.. Soviet
army Is steadily ..advuncing,.ca.m2o-L jC e.-; 1 to --arortse^fus tillable
suspicion and is not conducive to a prompt and peacturul
solution of the present crisis.
APPENDIX
II
11th August, 1920.
^
Mr Lloyd George presents his compliments to MY-KarnonsiT
and bogs to acknowledge receipt of his letter of August llth
covering a communication ft cm Moscon stating that the represent
tatives of the Russian C-oamand had v/aitod for the Polish
armistice delegates slnse the evening of August Gth, hut that
the Polish delegation had not yet arrived.
Ilr Lloyd George begs to inform Mr. Kameneff that he has
JTIOAA&ge/ just received/from the Polish Government at Vfarsaw dated
August 10th 19 p.iin ) in which it Is stated that the Polish
Government had,, up till that time, received no answer from
the Soviet Government agreeing to the proposal of the Polish
Government, contained in their radio addressed to the Soviet
Government on August 5th, and finally accepted by the latter
after three vain attempts of transmission, in irhich radio the
Polish Governs&ent expressed their readiness to send delegates­
tc negotiate an armistice and prxxliJxLinaries of peace at
Minsk.
The only intimation which had reached Warsaw to the
effect that the Polish delegates were expected to arrive in
Minsk on August llth was a -prose telegram of the Havas agency
from Hythe received in Warsaw on August 10th.
Mr Lloyd George wishes further to state that the
representatives of the Brruti-jju. Govor-rjrient in Harsmr have also
reported that the Polish Government have repeatedly endeav- .
oured to get into touch with Moscow by wireless-, both direct
and via Norway-, and that the message had always been refused.
They further Inform Irbn what the Polioh officer in command
on the section of the front beyond lodlce had just announcod
that, a Russian peace delegation had lust arrived on that
part and had stated, on not finding the Polish delegates.,
that they would vtfct until 10 o' clock this morning (August llth) *
The Polish Government are replying that a ? olish delegation
are proceeding to the front at once to meet them, and that,if
the Russlmr;,delegates ax^e still there, they will send their
peace delegation at once to meet them.
They further state
that they are notifying the Soviet G^verrurient that they are pre­
pared to send off. their armistice and peace delegation to­
night (Angus t l l t h ) .
1
1
Mr Lloyd George trusts that Mr.Kameneff will sec that
immediate instructions are Issued for the reception and
passage through the lines to Minsk of the Polish peace and
armistice delegation, and that the Russian wireless stations
ore instructed to receive and transmit Polish mess ages
without delay.
He cannot help stating that this constant
refusal to receive messages from VJarsaw,while the.. Sovle t
army is steadily advaxicing,caTOotjE^l to aiwtse^-jlastiflrlblo ­
suspicion and is not conducive .to a prompt and peaceful
solution of the present crisis.